Woman&#39;s top magnetic clip that attaches to bra midsection

ABSTRACT

A magnetic clip that attaches a woman&#39;s top to her bra at the midsection between the bra cups. The clip pulls the top down onto the bra and the top conforms to the shape of the bra thus increasing the curves of the wearer. A ferric disc on the inside of the midsection is magnetically attached to a magnet on the outside of the midsection thus pinching the midsection. A magnet or ferric decoration placed on the outside of the woman&#39;s top magnetically attaches to the magnet at the midsection. The magnets are preferentially neodymium magnets.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The improvement described herein pertains to the field of clips for clothing and particularly to products that enhance a woman's figure.

2. Description of Prior Art

Many clothing clips exist today. They often entail a two part pin clip system with one part presenting a pin and a second part securing it. The two parts are then placed on the opposite surfaces of two items desired to be clipped together and then the pin is pushed through both items. The pin is then anchored by the second part of the system and the clip attachment complete. This system is used for tie tacks and many other clothing items.

A second clipping system is the safety pin where a needle is pushed through a clothing article twice and then anchored to itself on the outside of the fabric. This system is often used for corsages and nametags.

A third system of less common usage is the magnetic clip. This system uses two magnetically attracted pieces. One is placed on opposite sides of one or two articles of clothing and the magnetic clip attaches to itself and grips the clothing. These function to magnetically attach the clip to the clothing article and do not directly enhance the article itself. Objects are mounted on the outside of the magnetic clip such as a ferric golf ball marker or other.

Mars in U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,451 (1998) & U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,760 (2001) discloses such a magnetic clothing clip. However the clip described includes anchors fastened to the outermost magnet for securing articles to it. The function of the clip is thus described as securing other display articles to the clothing.

Capparelli in U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,585 (2001) discloses a means of attaching an inner garment to an outer garment but the means do not include magnetism.

Magnetic clips for front bra closures are known in the field. Lilly and others market such a bra.

Make Your Mark golf accessories has a clip on magnet that is suggested to be worn on a bra shoulder strap. A steel golf ball marker then may be attached on the outside of the outer garment thus leaving the marker readily available.

Magnets are also sometimes placed in bras for therapeutic reasons. The magnets are claimed to enhance circulation.

No clips are known to connect a woman's top to a bra midsection and none are known to do so for the purpose of conforming the woman's top to the bra. All magnetic clips use a two component magnetic system. All known clothing clips have an intended purpose of securing an independent article to the clothing so that the independent article may be viewed or utilized. No known clip utilizes a three component system to anchor two layers of clothing together.

SUMMARY

The improved magnetic clip described herein causes a woman's top to take on the contours of the underlying bra. This increases the contours of the woman's top and adds curve to the figure of the wearer. The clip is preferentially magnetic to aid in the ease of attachment and adjustability.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the disclosed improvement follow.

No magnetic clip on the market today is known to connect a woman's top to a bra midsection for the purpose of contouring the top. The clip as disclosed is designed to accomplish this. The woman's top will be pulled onto the bra and conform to the contours thereof.

The clip is designed to be magnetic and thus can easily be attached and removed without the accuracy of placement required for pin style clips. The clip can be used for many different clothing combinations so that only a single clip can serve many outfits.

The component of the magnetic clip worn on the outside of the woman's top could be a simple magnetic disc or a more decorative ornament including a magnet. The ornament could include extensions parallel to the mating surface of the magnet that would press the woman's top against her torso in areas other than just the mating surface. This would cause a larger area of the woman's top to take on the shape of the bra and thus increase the contouring effect.

The magnetic clip adds an option to detailing an outfit by adding an additional piece of jewelry.

Still further objects and advantages of the disclosed magnetic clip will become apparent from consideration of the following figures and their accompanying descriptions.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: Front Elevation of the Main Embodiment including a Bra with a Bra Component, Second Element Magnet.

FIG. 2: Side Elevation of the Main Embodiment including a Woman's Top, Bra, and a complete Magnetic Clip.

FIG. 3: Front Elevation of the Main Embodiment including a Woman's Top, Woman's Top Component Magnet, and an underlying Bra.

FIG. 4: Section of the Main Embodiment including a complete Magnetic Clip.

DESCRIPTIONS

FIG. 1. Illustrated is a front elevation of a bra 2 with two cups 4 and a midsection 6. Lines 8 represent the contours of the cups 4. A bra component, second element magnet 10 is also shown.

FIG. 2. Illustrated is a side elevation of a woman's top 12, a woman's top component 14, a bra component, first element 16, and a layer of soft material 18. A complete woman's top magnetic clip 22 is shown.

FIG. 3. Illustrated is a front elevation of a woman's top 12 and an underlying bra 2.

FIG. 4. Illustrated is a section of the complete woman's top magnetic clip 22.

OPERATION

FIG. 1. The bra component, second element 10 is a magnet located in the center of the midsection 6 of the bra 2. Contours 8 illustrate the shape of the cups 4.

FIG. 2. An expanded view of the complete woman's top magnetic clip 22 is shown. The woman's top component 14 is a magnet magnetically attached to the bra component, second element 10 and woman's top 12 is pinched between them. Bra component, first element 16 is a ferric disc magnetically attached to the bra component, second element 10 and the midsection 6 is pinched between them. A layer of soft material 18 such as a felt is glued onto the inner surface of the bra component, first element 16 so that the wearer comes in contact with it.

FIG. 3. The woman's top 12 has the woman's top component 14 positioned on it. The contours 20 of the woman's top 12 assume the shape of the underlying cups 4.

FIG. 4. The complete magnetic clip is illustrated here in section with the parts as noted above. The four parts of the woman's top magnetic clip (10, 14, 16, & 18) secure the woman's top 12 to the midsection 6 that is in turn held snugly to the torso of the wearer with the elastic bands of the bra. The woman's top 12 therefore is held tightly to the midsection 6 and the woman's top 12 assumes the shape of the bra 2. This imparts increased contours to the wearer. The wearer is protected from the very minor magnetic flux of the bra component, second element 10 by the shielding of a bra component, first element 16.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS AND SCOPE OF INVENTION

From the above descriptions, it is evident that the invention detailed herein improves upon the current art of accenting a woman's figure.

The magnetic clip emphasizes the wearer's figure by adding the double, rounded contours of the bra to the woman's top. This gives contours to a woman's top similar to a bikini top. Today's fashions emphasize the feminine figure and the woman's top magnetic clip furthers this emphasis.

Many any other permutations are possible than the main embodiment illustrated. Many variations on the sequencing of the steel and magnetic components of the magnetic clip are feasible. A magnet may be glued on the outside of the midsection or simply placed on the inside of the midsection after the bra is on. Then a ferric object or magnet could be placed outside of the woman's top and attached to the magnet inside. If a magnet is used on the outside of the woman's top, then the elements located on the bra could be of non-magnetic ferric material.

A ferric object could also be used alone inside the bra midsection or glued or clipped to its outer surface. Then a magnet would be used outside of the woman's top to attract the inner ferric object. Also a ferric object could be used inside the bra midsection along with an outer midsection magnet and an outer woman's top ferric object used to complete the clip. This would have the advantage of being less expensive than the main embodiment due to the use of one magnet instead of two. However this single magnet clip would not hold together as firmly as the two magnet clip.

The bra component elements will preferentially be disc shaped with a diameter of approximately one quarter inch to one inch. The woman's top component could be of similar size. All of the components of the magnetic clip would preferentially have flat inner and outer surfaces except the outer surface of the woman's top component could be variable.

All magnets would preferentially be high energy magnets such as neodymium magnets. Neodymium magnets have a high energy to weight ratio.

If a pin and receiving housing clip is used, the housing could grip the pin by being fitting snugly or by having a spring actuated retainer.

Therefore the scope of this invention should not be construed to be limited to the few examples described herein, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

1-16. (canceled) 17) A decorative clip for attaching to a woman's top comprising: a) a typical woman's top; b) a typical woman's bra; c) the top and the bra worn in typical fashion; d) said bra including two cups; e) said bra including a midsection between the cups; f) said woman's top including an outer surface; g) a bra fastener component of the clip positioned on said midsection and secured there; h) a woman's top fastener component of said clip located on said outer surface of said woman's top and positioned adjacent to said bra fastener component; and i) said bra fastener component and said woman's top fastener component arranged and configured to releasably mate, whereby the woman's top and bra are pulled together and the woman's top conforms to the contours of the bra. 18) The clip of claim 17 wherein: a) the two fastener components each including ferric material; and b) at least one of the said two fastener components including a magnet, wherein the two fastener components releasably mate through magnetic attraction. 19) The magnetic clip of claim 18 wherein: a) said midsection has an inner surface and an outer surface; b) said bra fastener component including a first element and a second element; c) said first element positioned on said inner surface of said midsection; d) said second element positioned on said outer surface of said midsection proximal to said first element; e) each of the two elements including ferric material; f at least one of said two elements including a magnet; and g) said two elements releasably mate through magnetic attraction, whereby the two elements pinch the midsection and are secured there. 20) The magnetic clip of claim 19 wherein: a) said first element is non-magnetic; and b) said second element including a magnet, whereby the magnetic flux of the second element is shielded from the wearer by the non-magnetic ferric object and the magnet of the second element is presented proximal to the woman's top component. 21) The magnetic clip of claim 20 wherein: a) said woman's top fastener component including an non-magnetized ferric material, whereby the magnet and the ferric material attach to each other. 22) The magnetic clip of claim 20 wherein: b) said woman's top fastener component including a magnet, whereby the two magnets may strongly attach to each other. 23) The magnetic clip of claim 18 wherein: a) said magnet is a rare earth magnet. 24) The magnetic clip of claim 19 wherein: a) said first element has an inner surface; and b) attached to and substantially covering said inner surface is a layer of soft material, whereby the skin of the wearer contacts only the layer of soft material of the magnetic clip and the magnetic flux of the magnet is further removed from the wearer. 25) The magnetic clip of claim 18 wherein: a) said bra fastener component including a magnet; and b) said woman's top fastener component including non-magnetic ferric material, whereby the two fastener components releasably mate through magnetic attraction. 26) The magnetic clip of claim 18 wherein: a) said woman's top fastener component including a magnet; and b) said bra fastener component including non-magnetic ferric material, whereby the two fastener components releasably mate through magnetic attraction. 27) The magnetic clip of claim 18 wherein: a) said woman's top fastener component and said bra fastener component each including a magnet, wherein the two fastener components may strongly attach to each other. 28) The clip of claim 17 wherein: a) said bra fastener component is secured at said midsection by a type of attachment selected from the group consisting of an adhesive layer, a clip, and being squeezed between said midsection and a wearer. 29) A magnetic clip for attaching a woman's top to her bra comprising: a) a typical woman's top; b) a typical woman's bra; c) the top and the bra worn in typical fashion; d) said bra including a midsection between the cups; e) a bra fastener component of said magnetic clip including a first element that is a non-magnetic ferric object positioned on the inner surface of said midsection and including a second element including a magnet positioned on the outer surface of said midsection; f) the two elements of said bra fastener component magnetically attached to each other and squeezing said midsection between them; g) a woman's top fastener component positioned on the outer surface of said woman's top proximal to said second element of said bra fastener component; h) said woman's top fastener component including a magnet; and i) said second element of said bra fastener component and said woman's top fastener component magnetically attached to each other, whereby the woman's top is pulled onto the midsection so that the woman's top adopts the contours of the bra. 30) The magnetic clip of claim 29 wherein: a) the magnets are rare earth magnets. 